Monthly Archives: July 2016

KANSAS CITY, MO – The organizers of Kansas City Psych Fest, an annual live music festival in its fifth year, have announced a name change and official dates for their upcoming two-night event. On Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, 2016, the festival Outer Reaches will take over recordBar’s new location at 1520 Grand Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. The fresh moniker is part of the festival’s rebranding, with aims to include music outside the psychedelic genre.

“The term ‘psych’ was convenient at first, but we’ve found it to be limiting,” said Brenton Cook, owner of Haymaker Records and festival organizer. “We really want to branch out from a particular genre, widening the base for adventurous music.”

The festival began in 2012 at FOKL Center, a community art space in downtown Kansas City, Kansas and was organized by Dedric Moore of Monta At Odds, a local psych/experimental indie band. From the beginning, Moore and partners have sought to include regional acts along with national touring bands.

“When we started, the intent was to bring a focus to bands and artists that wouldn’t otherwise have a stage or forum,” Moore said. “And we wanted it to be an immersive, interactive multimedia experience. So we’ve always had video projection and visual elements to lend to that idea. We plan to continue that as we move forward into the next phase of the festival’s evolution.”

In subsequent years, the festival expanded into other venues, finding a home at recordBar in 2014 and 2015, when recordBar owner Steve Tulipana became involved.

“This new vision for the festival is really about experimenting within and pushing boundaries in every genre,” Tulipana said. “We want to showcase the ‘out there,’ left-of-center, under-the-radar bands putting on great shows.”

The Outer Reaches full festival lineup will be announced in August and there are plans to host two stages in recordBar’s new space during each night of the event. The artists showcased over the years have been culled from a wide range of talent, with past acts including Gringo Star, White Mystery, Slim Twig, and David Hasselhoff on Acid.